Charleston Currents #12.20 | March 30, 2020
THIN RED LINE. Shoppers at Whole Foods in West Ashley practice social distancing as they wait behind social-distancing red lines to be admitted into the store. It’s a whole new world out there as the stores that are open often are moving from the notion of “quality control” to “quantity control” in the number of shoppers allowed inside at one time. Charleston Currents photo.
TODAY’S FOCUS: Start printing masks now
COMMENTARY, Brack: Issue stay-at-home order now, governor
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Charleston International Airport
MY TURN, Knapp: State’s economy will survive if small businesses survive
NEWS BRIEFS: City has weathered past scourges
FEEDBACK: Send us a letter
MYSTERY PHOTO: View from above
CALENDAR: Lots to do at home online
Friends and readers,
This coronavirus crisis is dealing a blow to everyone. But South Carolinians will get through it, just like we get through hurricanes and other disasters.
We’re proud to offer Charleston Currents for free. For more than a dozen years, we’ve been the go-to place for insightful information and good news about the Lowcountry. And we love it as much as you do.
But now, we can use your help. If you’ve been thinking of contributing to Charleston Currentsover the years, now would be a great time to contribute as we deal with the crisis. In advance, thank you.
— Andy Brack, editor and publisher
Start printing masks now
By Janet Segal, special to Charleston Currents | Here’s an idea: Local governments and the state — the county, its libraries, technical colleges and the like — should put idle 3-D printers to use now to print masks to keep our medical workers safe.
I am self-quarantining at home with two sewing machines, fabric, a pattern from the internet and I have been sewing facemasks. According to my nursing friends, these will be helpful for elderly patients and their caregivers and for people outside the home who must go shopping. But they will fall apart after multiple washings. They are well-made but not designed for long-term use.
Cloth masks made last week by Segal.
There are, however, masks that can stand up to repeated sterilizing — those made of plastic on 3-D printers. Where are those printers? In libraries, public schools, technical colleges and even in private homes. One person with enough filament could go into production immediately making medical-grade masks.
Is this the best way to get masks to our front-line health care workers and safety officers? Of course not. But until major corporations re-tool and start making masks, we can make a small dent in the void.
The state, counties and school boards should step up, allocate funding for filament, electricity and staff time, and let more heroes combat the virus using machines that are sitting in locked up buildings. It’s happening elsewhere. Why not here?
- In Colorado: High school uses 3D printer make parts of medical masks (9 News)
- In New York: One way to help strapped hospitals? Print PPE using 3D printers (NPR)
- In Virginia: 13-year-old boy uses parents’ 3D printer to make, donate masks (WJLA)
Community activist Janet Segal of Daniel Island is former chair of the Charleston County Public Library. Have a comment? Send to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com
As more people stay home to deal with the coronavirus crisis, people are looking for things to do. You can find some fun things to do online in our calendar section below, but let us also encourage you to FORWARD your issue of Charleston Currents to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. It’s got a great price, as you know: Free! We hope they’ll enjoy our coverage.
Issue stay-at-home order now, governor
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Gov. Henry McMaster must issue a tough stay-in-place order now to keep coronavirus from spreading more in South Carolina. He can’t wait any longer.
Such an order will cause huge economic ripples throughout the state’s economy. But school isn’t open for another month. More people are getting sick. If we don’t nip this mess in the bud as much as possible now, the damage will be far, far worse when he is forced to issue an order later.
“I have great faith in the people of South Carolina,” the governor said Thursday. “They follow rules. They’re respectful. They’re courteous. They’re gentle. They’re smart. They’re resilient. The things we have asked them to do, they are doing and doing very well.”
Yes, most South Carolinians are like that. Unfortunately, governor, responding to this disease isn’t about faith. It’s about science. It’s about listening to public health authorities and keeping people apart. A lot of South Carolinians are staying at home voluntarily, but there are far too many still in close contact.
Continuing with a voluntary approach won’t chill the clusters that are developing. Our state needs to go into time-out for two weeks to allow the virus to die down. To do otherwise will create more opportunities for the virus to spread. That must not happen because we don’t want 8,000 infected people in May, as predicted, who infect even more.
“Health over wealth needs to be the focus, in my opinion,” Greenville political analyst Chip Felkel observed. “We can recover financially. It won’t be easy. It will cause a lot of anxiety and, yes, people will be severely and adversely affected. But they won’t be dead.”
To respond to the crisis, the state legislature should redirect the bulk of a $2 billion surplus into programs to help small businesses stay afloat and hospitals to deal with the caring crisis ahead.
“Small businesses are the backbone of the country, and especially South Carolina,” Felkel said. “A program to help companies meet payroll and stay afloat, not necessarily flourish, would go a long way.”
Frank Knapp, head of the S,C. Small Business Chamber of Commerce, suggests the state augment a federal infusion of money into small businesses by delaying the filing of state employer payroll taxes.
“There should not be any refund checks sent to taxpayers this year,” he said. “We should be putting every state tax dollar we can into our hospitals to cover their COVID-19 operational costs. We should do this because of the health care needs but also because it will help keep health insurance rates from rising next year.”
Knapp also suggested using federal dollars to expand Medicaid, even if only for a year, because tens of thousands of newly laid-off workers won’t have health insurance or meet federal levels to qualify for health insurance subsidies. So they’ll be out in the cold, further exacerbating an unhealthy environment.
“Lack of health insurance results in unhealthy citizens, which threatens all of us,” Knapp said. “Plus, when the unemployed get sick and go to the emergency room, if they can get in, their uncompensated medical costs will be passed on to everyone else through higher insurance premiums.”
State Sen. Vincent Sheheen, a Camden Democrat whose home area has been hammered by the virus, urged increased testing for the virus so more data were available to make decisions. He also suggested “effective self-quarantine procedures for confirmed cases with minor symptoms supervised by local law enforcement.”
If you want to better understand the terrible toll of coronavirus, we suggest you read the terrifying story of a New York City woman who has been caring for her husband, wracked by the disease.
“Our world became one of isolation, round-the-clock care, panic and uncertainty — even as society carried on around us with all too few changes,” Jessica Lustig wrote March 24 in The New York Times.
As of Thursday, 22 states had statewide stay-at-home orders. Sooner or later, South Carolina will likely have one too. Let’s do it now so we can move beyond this disease’s crippling health and economic impact sooner.
Andy Brack is the editor and publisher of Charleston Currents and Statehouse Report. Have a comment? Send to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com
Charleston International Airport
Today we shine a spotlight on Charleston International Airport, which provides a first impression of the Charleston metropolitan area to over 4 million passengers a year who visit for business and leisure activities. One of three public airports operated by the Charleston County Aviation Authority, Charleston International Airport is committed to providing an unparalleled passenger experience while continuing efforts to support economic development for the Lowcountry and State of South Carolina.
Eight airlines currently serve Charleston International Airport, which have jobs that create more than $200 million in income for workers in the region. Visiting passengers also spend about $450 million a year directly in area businesses, which sustains an estimated 6,000 jobs locally. The total economic impact of the Charleston International Airport is over $1 billion dollars to the Lowcountry and State of South Carolina.
- To learn more about Charleston International Airport, please visit iflyCHS.com.
- To meet all of our underwriters,click here.
KNAPP: S.C. economy will survive if small businesses survive
By Frank Knapp, special to Charleston Currents | The City of Charleston has implemented a shelter-in-place order. Columbia has done the same. There are even calls for Gov. Henry McMaster to do so for all of South Carolina.
As a result of all governments’ actions and instructions to citizens for containing COVID-19 from spreading, small businesses are in crisis.
Knapp
How serious is it?
Goldman Sachs conducted a national survey of small businesses last week and found that about 51 percent of the owners said that under current conditions they would only be able to “operate for 0-3 months.”
The S.C. Small Business Chamber of Commerce conducted a poll of its supporters this week and found about 60 percent saying that, without an infusion of cash, their business would not survive the next 3 months.
A survey released this week by Businesses for Responsible Tax Reform of its network of small businesses found that 70 percent have lost 50 percent or more of their revenue while 40 percent in “shelter-in-place” regions and 30 percent in non-shelter-in-place areas have been forced to close.
Small businesses still open across the country are cutting costs primarily by reducing worker hours and layoffs. Other costs are harder to reduce, like payments for rent, utilities, insurance and existing loans.
Unemployment claims in the state jumped 1,600 percent in one week.
Many economists insist that we are already in a recession and no one knows how long it will take to revive the economy when the health crisis eases.
What experience from the recent Great Recession tells us is that it will be small businesses that will lead us out of this recession by creating jobs. But that won’t happen if we lose small businesses in the next three months at the rate indicated by surveys. Without our small businesses, we will be facing a very long road back, possible years, to a healthy economy.
Fortunately, Congress has recognized the need of small businesses for a fast, flexible and non-debt cash infusion to keep alive. The bipartisan $2 trillion stimulus package contains $377 billion for small businesses to obtain loans for operating expenses.
Small business owners in operation as of February 15 of this year can apply to soon-to-be-approved SBA approved private lenders for loans of up to 2½ times their average monthly payroll. These loans will be 100 percent backed by the federal government.
Normal loan underwriting, including proof of ability to repay the loan, will be waived and there will be no borrower or lender fees. Checks will hopefully be received by the small business in 7 days after a successful application submission.
The loans can be used for any business expense. However, if the money is used for payroll, rent, utilities or interest on a business mortgage; the small business owner will have that part of the loan forgiven making this money essentially a grant.
There will be no loan payments for the first 6 months. After that, only loan money used for non-forgivable expenses will require loan payments not to exceed 4 percent interest.
This small business loan program is intended for immediate relief. If this economic crisis goes on for too long, Congress will need to consider approving more assistance to small businesses.
This infusion of federal dollars to small businesses is not a handout.
It is an investment in keeping people working and getting a regular paycheck; in maintaining a more normal local business economy; and in supporting the emotional and psychological health of our citizens as they worry about the future.
And it is an investment in the essential local small business infrastructure we will need when we turn the corner on this crisis.
Frank Knapp is the president and CEO of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce and Co-chair of Businesses for Responsible Tax Reform.
City has weathered past scourges
Dock Street Theatre, downtown home of Charleston Stage.
Staff reports | Julian Wiles, founder and producing artistic director of Charleston Stage, shared a message with friends of the organization to reassure friends that the latest unpleasantness of people sheltering in place wouldn’t last forever.
Wiles
And he offered an interesting insight highlighting how Charleston has survived scourges in the past:
“For almost 300 years, the historic Dock Street Theatre where Charleston Stage makes its home, has been closed before as Charleston weathered other challenging times in our long history. This beloved Charleston landmark has:
- Survived the two smallpox epidemics of 1738 that infected one third of the city’s citizens.
- Endured the siege and capture by the British in 1780.
- Survived the fire of 1837 that burned over 1,000 buildings in the city.
- Survived the yellow fever epidemic of 1858 which killed several hundred of our citizens.
- Barely survived the Great Fire of 1861 which burned across the peninsula from the Cooper to the Ashley taking with it five churches and 575 homes.
- From 1863 to 1865, endured over 567 days of bombardments by Union forces laying siege to the city in the American Civil War.
- Remained standing in the Great Earthquake of 1886 that leveled much of the city.
- Endured the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 when, like today, our city’s theatres, churches and businesses were closed.
- Survived devastating hurricanes in 1893, 1937 and a category-five Hurricane Hugo in 1989….
“Together we will get through this, and at some point, hopefully in the not very distant future, we’ll light the lights, the curtain will go up, and the show will go on.”
In recent news:
S.C. to see $2 billion from feds for coronavirus response. South Carolina will receive nearly $2 billion to respond to the coronavirus pandemic, according to estimates from the National Conference of State Legislatures. Most of the money from the package is unencumbered and its spending will likely be at the discretion of governors, according to sister publication Statehouse Report. See the March 25 state estimates here.
Middleton files for council. The Rev. Kylon Middleton, senior pastor of Mount Zion AME Church in downtown Charleston, has filed as a Democrat to run for a West Ashley-North Charleston seat on Charleston County Council currently held by retiring former chairman Vic Rawl, also a Democrat In a news release today, Middleton said, “I’m running because we need strong moral leadership on Charleston County Council for a change. We need leadership that will commit to a bold plan to improve traffic and transportation, invest in infrastructure and action now to secure affordable housing opportunities for all our citizens. ” More info online.
Campbell not running. State Sen. Paul Campbell, R-Berkeley, announced through a news release received at 9:37 a.m. March 23 that he wasn’t running for re-election. At the end of the year, he’s also scheduled to step down as head of the Charleston International Airport. About five hours after Campbell’s announcement came another release from the same source announcing Goose Creek City Council Member Gayla McSwain would run for Campbell’s seat.
To find all candidates running, click here.
SNAP benefits extended to those not working. The March 18 federal aid package included a provision to allow unemployed, able-bodied people to receive food stamps, according to Statehouse Report. This was an issue raised by S.C. advocates earlier this month since the state is unable to seek a waiver to suspend those workforce requirements. Read previous coverage.
Need all coronavirus resources in one place? S.C. Appleseed Legal Justice Center has launched a resource page to help the state’s poorest residents navigate benefits and programs available to them during the coronavirus pandemic. Click here.
- Have a comment? Send to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com
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Send us a letter: We love hearing from readers. Comments are limited to 250 words or less. Please include your name and contact information. Send your letters to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com. | Read our feedback policy.
Tell us what you love about the Lowcountry. Send a short comment – 100 words to 150 words – that describes something you really enjoy about the Lowcountry. It can be big or small. It can be a place, a thing or something you see. It might be the bakery where you get a morning croissant or a business or government entity doing a good job. We’ll highlight your entry in a coming issue of Charleston Currents. We look forward to hearing from you.
View from above
Here’s a view from above of a community that’s not in South Carolina. So where is it? For bonus points, why might it be relevant in today’s issue? Send your best guess to editor@charlestoncurrents.com. And don’t forget to include your name and the town in which you live.
Our last Mystery Photo, “Outdoor room with a view,” was from the Citrus Club on top of Charleston’s award-winning Dewberry Hotel (it’s on the cover of the current issue of Southern Living). The previous mystery photo was of an actual dewberry!
Lots of readers correctly identified the photo, which provided a great Charleston vista. Congratulations to Chris Brooks of Mount Pleasant; Stephen Yetman, Mia Maness, Sarah Kozlik and James McMahon, all of Charleston; Don Clark and Bill Segars, both of Hartsville; Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas; Marnie Huger of Richmond, Va.; George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; and Ron English.
- Send us a mystery: If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!) Send it along to editor@charlestoncurrents.com.
Online events featured
With most people following a stay-at-home order, they’re looking for things to do. Here’s a look at some online events and offerings to help you shed any boredom that may rise in your home:
If you have any online events, drop us a line (editor@charlestoncurrents.com) and make sure to put “Online event” in the subject line. Similarly, if you’ve got cool ideas for stuff to do while in isolation at home, send them our way.
Virtual tours: Bulldog Tours is providing virtual tours of the city of Charleston daily at 2 p.m., according to sister publication Charleston City Paper. So far, tours have been to Washington Square, Fort Lamar and the old City Jail. Learn more.
Online wellness: You can also get fit online through virtual fitness classes that offer workouts, meditations and more. Check out this City Paper post of what area studios are offering.
Online jazz: Forte Jazz Lounge in downtown Charleston is offering music enthusiasts the chance to watch live shows online through virtual ticketing with suggested donations of $10. The feed starts about 15 minutes before shows. When the virus scare is done, all donors will be invited to a big party blowout at the club with the Joe Clarke Big Band. Learn more.
Aquarium online. The S.C. Aquarium is expected to offer a daily Nature Challenge, a virtual “Passport to Fun” and a “Moment of Zen” starting this week online. It also offers daily education classes at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., Monday to Friday, via its virtual network. Learn more.
Virtual museums. You can visit 500 museums across the world online through this Google amalgamation of sites. Locally:
Charleston Museum. “The Charleston Museum and its Historic Houses will have a variety of content, lessons, videos, and virtual tours during this uncertain time. More online.
Gibbes Museum. You can enjoy lots of local art offerings through the website and social media accounts of the Gibbes Museum. AT 10 a.m. on weekdays, the museum posts virtual readings and workshops on Facebook. Find more online.
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Charleston Currents is provided to you weekly by:
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